The fight capped off WEC 48, World Extreme Cagefighting’s pay-per-view debut, and took place in front of a soldout crowd at ARCO Arena in Sacramento, Calif.

In his first fight since winning the belt from Mike Brown in November, Aldo used devastating striking – most notably crippling leg kicks – to slow, injure and ultimately defeat the former champ and WEC superstar.

Aldo worked on Faber’s lead leg in the first round, and by the second, a noticeable limp followed. In the third, the mounting damage and continued kicks knocked a wobbly Faber to the mat. With no legs and an inability to defend, the crowd favorite was soon picked apart by Aldo’s crisp punches and precise kicks. In fact, so needing to protect his legs, Faber left his body and head open to additional blows from the champ.

Despite his opponent’s inability to walk in the fourth round, Aldo followed Faber to the mat after scoring another knockdown via leg kick. Aldo dived into guard and soon took his opponent’s back, but Faber somehow escaped. After a similar knockdown, Aldo again followed his opponent to the canvas, passed guard into side control, and blasted Faber with punches while he was trapped in the crucifix position. Referee Josh Rosenthal gave the fighter every opportunity to escape the hold and intelligently defend himself, and Faber somehow survived the attack for more than a minute to make it to the final round.

After his corner told him to keep the fight standing in the fifth, Aldo continued his vicious striking attack. Yet when Faber was knocked to the mat or failed in takedown attempts, Aldo wisely remained upright. The strategy earned him the round and an eventual unanimous-decision win via scores of 49-45, 49-45 and 50-45.

After the dominating performance, Aldo won over the previously hostile crowd.

“We were planning for it to be a tough fight,” Aldo said through manager and translator Ed Soares. “I know the crowd here is for Uirjah, but I hold Sacramento close to my heart. It’s the first place I fought (for the WEC), and I hope they can adopt me … in my home away from home.”

With his 10th consecutive win, Aldo moves to 17-1 overall and 7-0 in the WEC. Faber falters to 23-4, and with his third loss in five fights, drops to 8-3 in the WEC.

In the night’s co-headliner, WEC lightweight champion Benson Henderson proved his first win over Donald Cerrone was no fluke and quickly submitted the No. 1 contender for his first successful title defense.

The fighters first met in October at WEC 43, where Henderson earned a hard-fought unanimous decision to stake claim to an interim belt. And after unifying the titles with a win over-then champ Jamie Varner in January, Henderson was booked for a second fight with Cerrone.

Unlike the first meeting, which earned the event’s “Fight of the Night” award, the rematch proved a lopsided affair.

After an early takedown failed, a determined Henderson easily secured the second. After a few quick punches, Henderson slapped on a guillotine choke, rolled to his back while in half guard, and prompted the tap-out seconds later at the 1:57 mark.

Cerrone, who sported a huge knot on his forehead after the fight, could do nothing but smile and shake his head in disbelief.

Henderson, who’s now won 11 straight fights (seven via submission), gave credit to his jiu-jitsu coach, John Crouch, one of the few who earned his black belt from Royce Gracie.

With the title win, Henderson moves to 12-1 (5-0 WEC) and could get some consideration in the top-10 rankings talk for his division. Cerrone, meanwhile, drops to 11-3 (4-3 WEC) and remains undefeated outside of title fights.

For as long as Manny Gamburyan has been competing professionally, fans and fellow fighters have raved about his judo skills, explosive takedowns and freakish strength. But following his first-round destruction of former WEC featherweight champ Mike Brown, Gamburyan should now get some additional kudos for his striking.

Leading up to the fight – one in which Brown arguably had little to gain and a lot to lose – the ex-champ talked of his need for a win and a desire to reclaim the belt. However, Gamburyan, a former UFC fighter who appeared on “The Ultimate Fighter 5,” is the one who looked like championship material in the main-card bout.

A patient Gamburyan continually circled and remained at a distance in the opening minute of the fight. As Brown engaged, Gamburyan tested his ability to counter. The trial resulted in virtually no error, and just two minutes into the fight, he found his mark and blasted Brown with a perfectly timed counter right. Brown dropped to the mat, and Gamburyan followed with additional punches to force the TKO stoppage at the 2:22 mark of the first round.

“I’m improving,” Gamburyan said. “All I’m doing is improving. … I promised you guys I would do genocide, and I did it.”

Gamburyan, who’s found new life since moving to the UFC’s sister promotion, improves to 11-4 (3-0 WEC) with the win. Brown, meanwhile, drops to 23-6 (5-2 WEC) with his second loss in three fights.

After a couple failed attempts, Roller scored the early takedown and took the knockout artist to the mat. There, he controlled the bout with his ever-improving jiu-jitsu game and a dominating top position. Additionally, when Njokuani scrambled for an escape, Roller wisely used the opportunity to take his opponent’s back and secure a tight body lock from which his opponent would never escape.

And though it took some effort, Roller eventually forced the tap-out from a rear-naked choke. The end came at the 3:07 mark of the opening round.

With the win, which was his third straight in the organization, Roller moves to 8-2 overall and a stellar 5-1 in the WEC. Njokuani, who entered the bout with three wins that all earned “Fight of the Night” bonuses, drops to 12-3 (3-2 WEC).

Over the past year, the WEC’s bantamweight title has bounced from new champ to new champ. The entire time, Scott Jorgensen knew a single, close split-decision defeat to Antonio Banuelos back at WEC 41 likely cost him his shot at the belt.

However, in a rematch that kicked off the WEC’s PPV main card, Jorgensen got his revenge.

But it didn’t come easy.

Jorgensen, who agreed to the fight a month ago when Damacio Page dropped out due to an injury, ate a number of left-handed punches from Banuelos and was dropped to the canvas on one occasion. However, Jorgensen took control in the second round with crisp standup and a stiff right hand that scored a knockdown of his own.

In the third and deciding frame, Jorgensen continued the assault, and Banuelos’ busted nose began gushing blood. Banuelos tried to fight through it, but Jorgensen dropped him again midway through the round and closed out the frame with effective ground and pound.

Sensing the loss, Banuelos circled the cage after the fight while muttering profanities to himself. So when the judges read the official verdict – Jorgensen got the unanimous-decision win with 29-28 scores – Banuelos was hardly surprised.

As with Jorgensen’s loss in their initial meeting, Banuelos (17-6 MMA, 8-5 WEC), who entered WEC 48 with a three-fight win streak, potentially cost himself a title shot. Jorgensen (10-3 MMA, 6-2 WEC), meanwhile, is sitting pretty with a four-fight win streak and a strong case for title consideration.

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